GNW 2012, Vihula vald, Estonia April 09, 2012

Marko Moor

We have kept you waiting for a long time now. But we are glad to inform you that the reconstruction of the event "The Great Northern War 2012 Estonia" from 25 to 27 May will take place according to the plan.

he upcoming event will be similar to the one in Marma, Sweden, in 2011. For 24 hours, we are trying to live the life of a soldier approximately 300 years ago.

On 25 May 2012 at 11 AM we expect all the participants to arrive in the courtyard of the Sagadi manor. The manor is located in Lääne-Virumaa county.

On the location we will change into our historic wardrobe (which we will keep on until Sunday, 27 May). All the vehicles we will leave at the parking lot. Modern items such as mobile phones, photo cameras, sunglasses and the rest we will lock away at the manor's hotel.

By around 12 AM we start our trip towards Käsmu, where we will take a small roundtrip on Käsmu bay on a viking ship from Käsmu sea museum (http://www.kasmu.ee/).

We will also visit a port pier. Allegedly, the pier was used by the fleet of Carl XII to unload a military equipment that moved from there to temporary stocks in Rakvere and then already to Narva. Since the viking ship accommodates 12 people including the crew, we will probably have to make many roundtrips. But of course we must keep in mind that the viking ship does not have an engine, it operates on human effort.

In Käsmu museum we will have lunch - smoked salmon. The doors of the museum will surely be open to us and I promise that this museum has quite a few exhibits that should, at least for the "Swedish" karolins, make the eyes sparkle and hands shake :-)

After lunch and the roundtrip (around 17 PM) the military event will start. Russian troops will move to Salatse.

In Salatse they can choose a campsite for their army, set up the posts, gather the patrols and make plans. The following activities will go according to the officers' plans, which means that the activities from then on are free and according to the situation.The Russian side will watch out for the Swedish troops.

The Swedish half will head back to Sagadi manor. Here the troops will be greeted by a horse transport: 3 ordinary wooden-case wagons, a spring trolley for about 6-8 people and a double yoke for about 8-11 people. "The Swedes" will pack their equipment onto the horse transport and they will start moving towards Salatse (the distance is ca 7 km and it should take around 1-1,5 hours). When "the Swedes" arrive in Salatse, they will assemble a camp and the officers will work out a plan according to the situation. The main idea of the war situation is that the Russians will spy on the Swedes, try to attack them, steal their supplies and engage in other similar activities according to the plan that was worked out by their officers. The war situation will last until Saturday afternoon, by around 15 PM. After which we will run down the event, discuss the tactics, pack up the camp and move back to the courtyard of the Sagadi manor.

At round 18 pm - 19 pm a camp will again be assembled in Sagadi manor (we will all stay in one camp). We have booked a guest house in Sagadi (http://www.sagadi.ee/accommodation/hostel-1). The guest house has a sauna and bed places to 31 people. We would of course like to have the evening of 27 May off and relax in a good company. As always - a nice nightly buzz inherent to our events. There will also be a mutual catering.

On the morning of 27 May we will have a usual breakfast, after which we will organise a show-battle for the locals and to the guests who are staying at the Sagadi manor. Perhaps we will make some small formation manoeuvres, the audience could get to know the equipment, the guns, etc. And then at 12 AM a short battle in the manor's courtyard.

Now, shortly about the equipment, safety and other similar issues

Every soldier must carry his own gear (uniforms, muskets/swords, etc) + camp equipment (tents, tableware and other food making equipment). Kolme Krooni Klubi wlll bring a cannon, as always. It would be nice to have more heavy artillery.

For the entire event (25 - 27 May) we have 40 kg of gunpowder.

For the war situation every soldier will have a daily ration 24 h (25.05 1700 – 26.05 1500). The daily ration includes meat, salt pork, butter, bread, kvass/light beer, groat, garlic, onion and salt. How to use the ration is up to the soldier: whether to eat them alone or share a meal with the others.

There are wood for the fire and fresh water. Since in late May it will hopefully be dry, it is important to be careful with the fire.

As the entire three-day event will take place in public space, where people can watch us all the time, then our safety will be taken care of by our good comrades from the Defence League. They will make sure people would behave and not go into wrong places. The Defence League will also take care of a medical assistance. In order to ensure fast communication, we have 3 radio stations - one for the Swedes, one for the Russians and one for the organisers.

For the participation fee we have calculated 20 EUR per person (should we have 50 - 70 participants). This sum will cover about 1/5 of the budget, the rest will be covered by the resources of the Kolme Krooni Klubi and with the support from our friends and other organisations.

So this is how the plan looks in a wider perspective. We have also some surprises.